


All the Same

by mehenisms



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Multi, TW: Nightmares, TW: implied domestic abuse, i love to bash shun li so if you like him im not the fic writer for you, tw: verbal abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 05:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17461394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mehenisms/pseuds/mehenisms
Summary: Shun Li is not good for Ikora Rey. The only men she needs are the ones beside her day and night.( Context: Ikora is in and out of a relationship with Shun for a variety of reasons, and when faced with him, suffers from internalized homophobia and heteronormativity. She’s gay and has been from the moment she was born in her first life, but she still has a hard time with it now and then.Note: Her relationships with Zavala and Cayde are a type of pure love, but not overtly romantic and definitely not sexual. )





	All the Same

Ikora flits around the kitchen, stacking dishes and replacing them in their proper cabinets in a quick dance laced with frustration. Her movements are fast, ragged, tired, and harsh: All tell-tale signs of her weariness. 

“‘La vie est pour les enfants,’ disent-ils. Mais non, jamais pour le moment!” She mutters quietly but sharply under her breath as she goes. “Ah, Shun, tu seras là pour les fabriquer malgré ma biologie, mais pour les élever—“

“You know I took French in the academy,” comes a call from the adjacent room, where a man of Asian descent sits in a plush chair, a book in his hands. One of her Astrophysics pieces he took from her library, most likely.

“—j’imagine que non!”

“Je peux t'entendre, tu ne m'entends pas? Votre surdité est-elle si grave ce soir?” Shun doesn’t quite snap, but there is clear aggravation in his tone as he sits up and turns halfway around in his chair to glare at her as she pauses her work to stare him down in frustration as well.

Ikora falls silent for a moment, waits for him to turn and sit back in his chair once more, and then resumes her work, her shoulders slumped in seeming defeat. Her spiteful nature still stirs under the surface, however, and whispers to her, egging her on.

“Ka'anani la 'aerif ma taquluh , kayf la yumkinuni dhulka? lela lughatan muntasaf alealam satajealuk tatajahal ma 'awad qawlaha?” She pauses in the middle of returning a plate to a cabinet above her, thoughtful. Her eyes flick over to where Shun sits, sighing in irritation as he reads.

“Hujawahi kujitahidi kujifunza lugha yangu ya asili, hivyo labda hata hii itakuwa ya kutosha, rahisi na ya kawaida kama ilivyo!” She continues, flawlessly moving between languages as though they are one and the same. “O, kama ungependa kufanya jitihada, upendo wangu mkubwa-“

—————————————————————

She wakes up in a cold sweat, bolting upright in bed. Cayde stirs to her left, and Zavala turns over to look at her on her right, blinking sleep from his eyes. He sets a steadying blue hand on her forearm and looks at her, brow knitted together in concern.

“Bad dream?” His voice is soft and low, and gruff with sleep. Ikora looks at him, unable and unwilling to hide her distress from him. It rules her expression, and though she fights them, tears begin to well up in her eyes. She can only nod, as much of her waking energy goes to choking back a small sob. Zavala rubs her arm with his thumb gently, carefully, and watches her for any signs that he should stop.

“I’m here, ‘Kora. You’re safe.”

Cayde mumbles something in his sleep, capturing both of their attention for a moment before Ikora returns her eyes to Zavala’s. He smiles, and hesitates for a few seconds, as though trying to remember something. When the words fall gently from his lips, Ikora finds peace.

“ _Ninakupenda_ , Ikora. Go back to sleep.”

**Author's Note:**

> i really strongly have held a lot of disdain for shun li since he was introduced in the owl sector arg in d1. the way he talks to and treats ikora despite her clear discomfort and animosity in return is unacceptable imo, and the fact that the rest of owl sector either turns a blind eye or encourages/plays into it is capital-S Shitty. 
> 
> that’s my professional onion. i don’t usually post my works regarding ikora’s troubled history and relationship with shun because i don’t want to come across as condoning the relationship, but i use Ikora to explore my own emotions sometimes admittedly, so. 
> 
> as always, thanks for reading 💕
> 
> ( Languages used, in order, are English, French, Arabic, and Swahili )


End file.
